Nyasa Big Bullets’ unbeaten home run in the TNM Super League continued on Sunday afternoon with a fantastic 3-1 victory over Kamuzu Barracks to move up to eight in the standings.
It was a game of plenty of chances but Hassan Kajoke missed some clear cut chances to keep the visiting Soldiers in the game but Peter Banda made sure that all is well when he scored a brace for the People’s Team.
Banda, who has played his final game for the defending League champions before departing for Moldova where he is expected to go for trials at FC Sherrif, scored a stunning freekick in the eight minute when Kamuzu Barracks’ goalkeeper Zachariah Jere was penalized for making a save outside the penalty box.
The match was played behind closed doors following Malawi Government’s decision to maintain their restrictions on public gathering to just 100 people.
But this didn’t stop the home side from dominating as they had back to back chances through Kajoke but the forward wasn’t clinical enough as he kept on squandering his opportunities.
At the other end, Kamuzu Barracks almost leveled the scoreline when Rabson Chiyenda failed to make a clearance only to see Kelvin Hanganda sending his drive away from the goal posts.
Bullets finally doubled their lead in the 40th minute when Banda slot the ball past Jere who could have done nothing with the grass cutter.
In the 45th minute, it was 3-0.
An excellent run from Banda found Mkanda inside the six-yard box who made a simple finish past the defenseless Jere into the back of the net.
In the second half, the visitors regrouped and had more ball possession inside the opening minutes than the hosts who were more defensive to protect their three goals that were scored in the first half.
The visitors took the game to Bullets in the half, and at times, the home side struggles to deal with Gregory Nachipo who was pressing in search for a goal but Bullets’s defence was too strong to be beaten by the visiting Soldiers.
In the 63rd minute, Sammy Chiponda and Tinkhane Nyirenda replaced Ndaona Daisi and Zeliat Nkhoma as they tried to push for at least a goal.
Kelvin Hanganda had a chance to reduce the arrears but the attacker skied his attempt despite being afforded space and time to test Chiyenda.
Bullets created their first opportunity in the 64th minute when Kajoke and Mwakifuna combined again to find Mkanda who could only manage to fire his shot straight at Jere.
Pasuwa made a double substitution in the 65th minute by introducing Bright Munthali and Pilirani Zonda for Kajoke and Ernest Petro.
Banda had a chance to score his first ever hat-trick for the People’s Team but his goal bound shot was deflected off for a corner when he was found unmarked by Idana.
Banda was at it again, his ability to take on defenders almost paid off when he and Idana came around quite nicely before releasing Mkanda whose first touch betrayed him as he allowed Chibvunde to make a clearance.
In the 76th minute, visitors brought in Harvey Nkacha for Hanganda whilst Idana and Gomezgani Chirwa paved the way for Chimango Kayira and John Lanjesi.
The Lilongwe based Soldiers pulled one back in the 80th minute through Nachipo who outsmarted Nickson Nyasulu before heading past Chiyenda who left his line of defence.
Despite pushing for another goal, Bullets stood firm to collect all the points and moved into the eight position with 11 points from Sixers games.
The defeat, second in a row for the Soldiers, sees them dropping into 12th position with six points from seven games.
Pasuwa said he was delighted with the result but he was quick to admit that his side missed several goal scoring opportunities.
“We are happy with the result but we should have scored more goals than what we have. We created lots of goal scoring opportunities but ended up only scoring three. We will go back to the drawing board and work on our finishing,” he told Bullets Media Desk in the post-match interview.
At Civo Stadium, Gastin Simkonda cancelled out a Lanken Mwale’s goal to earn Moyale Barracks a point against Civil Sporting Club.
This was Moyale Barracks second game in the Central Region after they suffered a 5-1 defeat in the hands of Silver Strikers on Saturday.
The draw sees the Mzuzu based Soldiers moving out of the bottom three to 13th with six points from eight games.
As for Civil Sporting Club, the draw has denied them an opportunity to go joint top as they remain third with 15 points from seven games.
